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What is self-talk? Self-talk is the internal dialog we all have ongoing through our minds every day. This internal dialog can take two forms, positive and negative.

Are you a positive thinker or a negative thinker? Do you tell yourself: Yes I can do this. I can reach my goal. Or do you tell yourself: I will never get that job so there is no point going for the interview. I am fat. I am stupid.
We all have moments of self-doubt where we question whether we can achieve something, but the difference between a constant negative thought pattern and a positive one is the difference between a person who never feels good enough and a person who feels content with life, happily challenged.

We all know those people who seem to have it all. They are always so happy. But when you stop and look at their life next to yours they have nothing more than you – sometimes they even have less than you. The difference is their internal dialog is set to positive; they look for the positive and they appreciate the things they have got.

Negative self-talk affects us in many ways. It can lead to stagnation, self-pity, depression and many more negative influences. When we repeat a negative statement over and over again we begin to believe it. “I am not good enough” may prevent us from taking the steps to achieve a promotion that we are easily qualified for. It gives us a lack of confidence that isn’t based on anything real, but reinforced by the internal negative dialog. Eventually these thoughts become all consuming and you find that you approach every aspect of your life with this negativity, beginning to feel stressed easily, depressed and having a lack of confidence and motivation.

Changing the internal dialog to positive statements makes our life better and assists us in moving forward, giving us the confidence to achieve our goals. If instead of saying “I am not good enough”, say “I can do this”. Not only will you achieve your goals but you will happier and healthier. Positive self-talk gives you a permanent cheerleader in your corner, one that carries positive messages to all areas of your life and helps you to move forward. Once you have this positivity no one can take it away from you, as it comes from within you, from your own though process.

Very often the nature of our self-talk originates from a very early age. It may be a teacher that said you weren’t good enough, or a parent that always made you believe anything is possible.

Hypnotherapy and NLP can help you to challenge the source of the negative thoughts and change them to positive ones. Eventually you will surround yourself with positive thoughts and that will create an environment that will allow you to live your best possible life.
Here a few easy steps to start to become positive:
· Smile more.

· Replace your negative thoughts with positive ones. This can be hard at first. Start by talking positively. When you have a negative thought or catch yourself about to say something negative, stop yourself and see if you can spin it on its head and turn it into a positive one. Soon this will become second nature and you will find yourself thinking in the positive first.

· Expect positive results. When you set a goal expect that not only will you achieve it but you will be better than you thought.

· Actually visualize the success you want. Picture it in your mind, picture what you DO want, rather than having a list of what you DON’T want. Have an image of what you DO want, and see yourself achieving your goal.

We all have the ability to retrain our minds, we do it every day. Give it a go. What do you have to lose? Nothing. What could you gain? Everything.

Wellbeing is often defined as more than just an absence of illness, and the ways in which we react to stress is often an indicator that although we are not ill we are not necessarily balanced. Insomnia is one of the main indicators of stress affecting our lives in a negative way and I often treat patients in the acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine clinic at Breathe-London for insomnia. In fact many patients come for acupuncture or herbs for different reasons but often come with chronic insomnia and have just accepted this as a normal way of being.

In the ancient Chinese way of thinking about health and wellbeing a poor sleep pattern or poor quality sleep is an indicator of an underlying imbalance in our Qi. At night our defensive Qi circulates throughout the interior of our body nourishing and warming our internal organs, if this circulation is disrupted then over time other health problems can arise.

There is a long history of treating insomnia with acupuncture and Chinese medicine in fact there is an acupuncture point called Anmian that translates as peaceful sleep and is one of the main points to treat insomnia. If insomnia is due to a background of anxiety herbs such as licorice and angelica root, goji berries, and Schisandra fruit are used to calm the spirit. A full case history is taken during the first consultation and patients are treated with a unique combination of acupuncture points and a bespoke formula of herbs is created to treat the insomnia and also to address any underlying imbalances that may be causing the insomnia.

In London noise and light pollution are common causes of sleeplessness and we also can get into negative patterns of behavior with our sleep including drinking too much caffeine during the day and not having enough down time to quiet the mind after a hectic day. Teaching sleep hygiene and developing positive new patterns of behavior is an important part of the treatment process.